The present invention relates to Content Management Systems (CMSs). More particularly, and not by way of limitation, the present invention is directed to a system and method for synchronizing a single workflow for video content on two separate CMSs.
A CMS is used to control and edit electronic content. Electronic content includes electronic files, images and video based media, audio files, electronic documents, web text, and the like. A CMS makes the content files available for editing inter-office or over the Internet. Companies using a CMS can share content with others easily, since most CMSs are server-based. Thus, more generally speaking, a CMS is a collection of procedures used to manage workflow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual and/or computer-based. The procedures in a CMS (i) allow for a large number of people to contribute to and share stored data, (ii) control access to data, based on user rules (defining which information users or user groups can view, edit, publish, etc.), (iii) aid in easy storage and retrieval of data, (iv) reduce repetitive duplicate input, and (v) improve communication between users.
In the context of a CMS, workflow is a process of creating cycles of sequential and/or parallel tasks that must be accomplished in the CMS. For example, in case of management of a video file, one or many content creators can submit the video file in a specific format, but the file may not be shared with others or published for sharing until it is approved by a QA (Quality Assurance) system in the CMS. Most CMSs use a database to store content, metadata, or other artifacts that might be needed by the system. Content may be typically stored as video, audio or other data files, whereas the metadata may be stored as XML (Extensible Mark-up Language) and represent specific elements of the content files. A presentation layer in the CMS may process, manipulate, or display the content to a user based on a set of templates for the workflows in the CMS. The templates are sometimes XML Stylesheet Language for Transformations (XSLT) files.
A workflow system for the management of video file processing (in a CMS) implements a sequence of steps that are executed (in the CMS) to prepare video for delivery to downstream systems. FIG. 1 illustrates a CMS 10 having a workflow system 12 to manage and process video content. The CMS 10 may receive the video content from input from different users or from a video content generator (e.g., a television studio). The video content input is indicated by an arrow having reference numeral “14.” The CMS-processed video content may be delivered to downstream users/systems (e.g., website visitors, television channel subscribers, television set-top boxes, etc.) as indicated by an arrow having reference numeral “16.” A human operator or workflow system user 18 may interact with the CMS 10 to monitor the status of task completion in the workflow and/or to possibly edit/change the workflow if needed.
In case of the workflow system 12 for management of video file processing, a video file may be delivered to the system 12 in Moving Picture Experts Group phase 4 (MPEG-4) format, and may require processing as follows: (i) ingest the content; (ii) update the metadata in the input video file; (iii) transcode the content to MPEG-2 using a third party transcoder; (iv) perform Quality Assurance (QA) of the MPEG-2 file using a third party QA system; (v) package the MPEG-2 content and its metadata; and (vi) deliver the package to a downstream system/user. For example, a High Definition (HD) television channel from a television studio may be received at a cable operator's head end (not shown) in MPEG-4 and captured by a time-shift TV application in the head end. The time-shift application may then need to transcode the MPEG-4 content into an MPEG-2 content and send it to a Video-On-Demand (VOD) server (not shown) in the cable operator's system, because the VOD server may only operate on MPEG-2 video content. Currently, the workflow system 12 can manage the above-described MPEG-4 to MPEG-2 transcoding steps of the workflow by executing (in the CMS 10) an ordered sequence of task notes. The CMS 10 may also represent to the user 18 the part of the workflow that has been completed and the status of the tasks in the workflow. A suitable template (not shown) may be used to display the completion status of workflow tasks.